Creating Your Sanctuary

Cravings

Katie Sanders Episode 102

When and why do we crave things, and how do you process a craving?

Video version: https://youtu.be/pbswDqAuXEg

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0:05 Hi, this is Katie, and thank you for joining me on the My Senses MySpace podcast. And today I wanted to talk to you about cravings.
0:19 Yeah, like cravings, where do, where do those come from inside your body? And you'll notice that I am dictating this a little bit differently because I'm also recording this.
0:33 So if you'd like recording as in video <laugh>. And so if you'd like to see the video version, it's going to be linked in the description.
0:42 And if you're watching this on YouTube, hi. I wanted to talk about cravings because I think it's really interesting how our body craves different things, whether it's food or textures or movement or touch the sense of touch.
1:01 All of our senses kind of come together to form ourselves, right? But then there's these like times in your life where you're like, son, I need, I need, I need <laugh> something.
1:15 And I find that really interesting. Like why are we craving something crunchy to eat right now? Why are we craving something salty?
1:26 Why is our body wanting something maybe more iron rich in food? I know I get those type of cravings all the time where it's like whether it's like a, a meat or a protein type craving.
1:42 And it's from my body needing that nu nutrient, right? Like there's some kind of nutrient that I'm needing right now.
1:50 But then there's other times where maybe you're, you're bored <laugh>. I, in our household, we kind of talk about our mouth being bored.
1:59 And so that can be like, oh, I want some kind of crunchy treat or something sweet or something. Usually we try to like, you know, reach for some chewing gum at that moment to kind of just go, oh, my mouth is just a little bored right now.
2:16 But then there's also times where you wanna just savor life, right? We don't wanna like restrict at least this, this is my philosophy of we don't wanna like come from thinking that we should push everything aside and only experience certain things.
2:36 Because usually for me, when I restrict, that means I, at the end of the period of my restriction, I go right back to it.
2:45 Or I overdo it at that point. Whether it's shopping for things, whether it's eating certain foods or anything I don't restrict.
2:57 And it helps me have a more healthy relationship with things that I am craving. So that, but what I'm processed in my brain is, and it can be very hard for ADHD brains to stop something.
3:14 So what I do is when I'm introducing this, like, okay, I'm craving something salty and I'm going to make some popcorn for myself.
3:24 I know that I need to pay a little bit more attention when I'm going through that process to really feel what my body is feeling.
3:35 So not to just absentmindedly, and we all do it at times, you know, the Netflix and chill of just working through having a hard day and you just wanna like, veg out at night, right?
3:49 But I, I've been trying to just go, okay, what is it that my body is craving right now? And how can I actually make that craving satisfied?
4:04 And so that is for me like how can I make this a satisfying experience without going overboard? And so I make my popcorn and I am having some, and I'll pay attention to, am I watching a screen right now?
4:22 Am I reading a book right now? Am I doing another activity that's kind of distracting my brain, pulling my brain away, or is it something that I feel more present with and I feel after a little while, like, oh, now my craving is satisfied and I can slow down and I can stop.
4:43 And you can do this with a lot of different things with shopping. It can be like, oh, I'm getting on a roll.
4:48 Like, I can buy one thing and then I'll buy another thing and then I'll buy another thing. But usually there's some kind of craving or something that we feel we're missing in those moments.
5:01 And I'm not talking about like what you're buying, you know, vitamins and supplements that you need for the next month, <laugh> or ordering your prescription or just getting new shampoo or anything like that that's you need in your life.
5:15 And I'm not like judging either, like what you deem as worthy as a need. It can be the fanciest shampoos, it can be the fanciest of things, and that's what you're craving and makes you feel good.
5:29 What I'm talking about is like, oh, I'm bored. Oh, I'm really anxious about something.  Things that you're cravings are stemmed not from an actual body need, but that there's something else underlying there that maybe you need to talk to a therapist about.
5:49 Maybe you need to talk to a friend. Maybe you need to process underneath and see if that craving is being caused by some kind of emotion about what you're feeling.
6:02 And not like, my body really needs some dairy right now, or my body needs, well, I don't have to eat dairy because I can't, but my body needs this type of nutrients.
6:15 Maybe I just need some more leafy greens in my dinner that evening because I can really feel it that my body's craving that.
6:25 So it, it doesn't have to just be food and it doesn't just have to be objects or something. There can be something else too.
6:33 Is your body craving just physical touch that you wanna hold somebody's hand? I know for my, myself, I've gone through a lot of kind of medical trauma stuff along with my, on my medical journey and many times I, I ask to hold somebody's hand as I'm going through that, whether it's the nurse or the tech or I bring along someone who can hold my hand throughout that experience.
7:03 And it helps so much to have that squeeze in your hand. It really can calm so much to know someone is there for you.
7:13 Or maybe it's just you're sitting on the couch and you wanna squeeze from your loved one's hand or you can squeeze your own hand.
7:21 You can bear yourself's biggest love, you know it's okay. Like where does that craving come from? That is the core of what I wanted to talk about.
7:33 So I'm going to leave it at that because I know there's probably a whole lot more. Please, you know, leave comments on this video that I have linked and let me know like what are you cra what are some other examples of cravings that you have, because I think this could be a really interesting conversation and yeah.
7:56 But I wanted to kind of record the set of video and a podcast, so that's why you're having kind of the dual experience right now.
8:05 Just to see if you'd like to see how I record these. I don't record in this setup all the time, but I wanted to share a little bit more face-to-face.
8:16 So this one I'm popping on and doing that. It won't be every time though. So until next time, thank you for joining me on the My Senses MySpace podcast.

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